The members said that there are no roads or drains in the locality and residents are facing problems commuting.

Banners put up by residents of Namrata Aawas colony of Kota in protest of ignorance of regional MLA and Corporator towards demand of road construction.(A.H. ZAIDI/HT PHOTO)

Tired of the apathy of public representatives, residents of a colony in Kota have put up banners, which said that they won’t vote for the local BJP MLA and BJP corporator in the next assembly polls. The residents alleged that after winning the last election, the MLA and corporator have not bothered to visit the locality even once.

Two banners, which have been put up at Namrata Aawas colony, read, “Road nahi to vote nahi...Bhajpa (BJP) ke parshad aur vidhayak jeetne ke baad yahan kabhi nahi aaye...to vote maangane bhi nahi aaye (No road, no vote... The BJP corporator and MLA have never come here after winning elections, so they shouldn’t come now asking for votes).” The banner has been put up by the association of residents, Namrata Aawas Sangharsh Samiti.

When contacted the Sangharsh Samiti members, on the condition of anonymity, admitted that they had put up the banners. They have refused to reveal their names fearing backlash from politicians.

The members said that there are no roads or drains in the locality and residents are facing problems commuting. Also, there are huge potholes on the roads.

“They came to the locality before the last assembly and municipal polls but after that, the MLA and corporator have not come back to solve our problems, so the samiti has put up the banners,” said a samiti member.

The samiti’s allegations were confirmed by other residents of the locality. “The colony roads become muddy as there are no proper roads and drains,” said a resident, Hariom Verma (22).

When HT’s reporter visited the colony, he saw that the roads exist only partially, some areas have roads while some don’t.

The regional BJP MLA from the locality Bhawani Singh Rajawat, has won thrice from Ladpura (Kota), while Durgesh Kumari is the corporator from municipal ward number 61.

Talking about the allegations, Rajawat said that it’s a developing colony and development works are carried on according to the availability of funds. Work will be done when the budget is available.

Refuting allegations that she had not visited the colony even once after winning the municipal polls in 2014, Durgesh Kumari, said, “Development of the entire municipal ward or a colony is not possible at a time, but official estimates for road construction have been submitted to the Urban Improvement Trust (UIT) Kota.” She added that she will make efforts to complete road construction before the end of her tenure.